Production ecology of Hexagenia limbata in Savanne Lake, Ontario

1982 ◽  
Vol 60 (10) ◽  
pp. 2317-2323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis Riklik ◽  
Walter T. Momot

The population dynamics of the burrowing mayfly Hexagenia limbata was examined in Savanne Lake, a small, shallow, dark-water lake in northwestern Ontario. Hexagenia limbata in Savanne Lake has a 2-year life cycle with a larger cohort emerging on alternate years. The mean biomass [Formula: see text] varied from 0.36 g/m2 (wet weight) to 2.98 g/m2, while mean numbers varied from 34/m2 to 121/m2. Annual production (P) was calculated from samples collected monthly during the period of growth for 1979 and 1980. The Allen curve, instantaneous growth, and size frequency methods estimated annual production as 4.80, 4.78, and 5.59 g/m2 (wet weight), respectively. The corresponding annual P/B ratios calculated by the three methods were 2.1, 2.1, and 2.6.

1981 ◽  
Vol 59 (12) ◽  
pp. 2350-2359 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Vincent ◽  
G. Vaillancourt ◽  
N. Lafontaine

The population dynamics of Pisidium amnicum have been studied in one population of the St. Lawrence River over a 2-year period during which 19 samples were taken. The species can live up to 3 years and it is iteroparous; individuals generally attain sexual maturity after 1 year and they reproduce twice, once at 2 and once at 3 years of age. In adults, mortality is lower in winter than during the rest of the year and mortality rates are twice as high during the 1st year than during the 2nd year. Total dry weight (PT, in milligrams) is related to maximum length (L, in millimetres) according to the equation PT = 0.0283∙L3,80 and flesh dry weight (PC, in milligrams) is related to length as follows: PC = 0.007∙L3,18. The annual production to mean biomass (P/B) ratio is 1.4, the mean annual production being 1.298 mg/m2 of total dry weight and 107 mg/m2 of flesh weight. Comparing these results with those obtained for the gastropod Bithynia tentaculata in the same environment and at the same period of the year has shown that the growth of Pisidium amnicum is far less influenced by the temperature regime than that of the other species and that its production is at least 10 times lower.


2005 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
June Ferraz Dias ◽  
Carla Bertolucci Fiadi ◽  
Helcy Lylian Nogueira Silbiger ◽  
Lucy Satiko Hashimoto Soares

Bay whiffs, Citharichthys spilopterus, were sampled in Mamanguá Inlet between March 1990 and March 1992 for evaluation of its reproductive dynamic. Bay whiffs presented a crescent gradient of abundance from the deepest to the shallowest stations. The mean total length by oceanographic station showed a clear tendency of a relationship between bigger sizes and higher depths. Males predominated along the studied period and on the smallest length groups. Higher values of alometric condition factor, gonadosomatic relationship and spawning stage of maturity indicated a higher degree of development of the gonads on March and November. Histological analysis showed spawning females in March and May 1990 in the stations closer to the mouth of the Inlet, and spawned females with old post-ovulatory follicles and high frequency of atresia at shallow stations, suggesting a migration to shallow and protected areas after spawning. Length of first gonadal maturation was 117 mm TL. We could conclude that C. spilopterus completes its life cycle within the Mamanguá Inlet, spawning during autumn (March to May) and possibly November.


Reproduction ◽  
2000 ◽  
pp. 331-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Holm ◽  
H Ekwall ◽  
GJ Wishart ◽  
Y Ridderstrale

Sperm storage tubules from the utero-vaginal junction of chickens, quails and turkeys were analysed for calcium and zinc using X-ray microanalysis of ultra-rapidly frozen tissue in a scanning electron microscope. This technique enabled the tubular fluid surrounding the stored spermatozoa and the intracellular content of the cells of the sperm storage tubules to be analysed separately and, by using standards with known concentrations, their elemental concentrations were estimated. The mean (+/- SEM) concentration of calcium in the tubular fluid from chickens, quails and turkeys was 17 +/- 3, 19 +/- 3 and 17 +/- 4 mmol kg(-1) wet weight, respectively. The intracellular calcium concentration of the cells of the tubules did not differ significantly from these values and was also similar in the mucosal epithelial cells of the utero-vaginal junction. Zinc was localized in the cells of turkey sperm storage tubules and tubular fluid, but at low concentrations. No zinc could be detected in corresponding structures from chickens and quails. The concentration of calcium in the tubular fluid is within the range known to inhibit the motility of spermatozoa, supporting this function for calcium during storage. Zinc is known to depress turkey sperm metabolism and it may also be involved in inducing quiescence of spermatozoa during storage in this species.


1971 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 262-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. F. W. Pollard

Biomass (stems and branches) increased from 17 000 kg h−1 in the 4th year to 34 000 kg h−1 in the 7th year of development of an aspen sucker stand. The bulk of the biomass was distributed in the middle and upper diameter classes of shoots; net annual increases only occurred in the upper classes. About 80% of shoots dying in the 3 years of study were less than 2 cm dbh; the biomass lost in these amounted to 200 kg h−1 or less each year. The remaining 20% mortality occurred in the 7th year among shoots 2–5 cm dbh infected with Diplodiatumefaciens. Biomass lost in these larger shoots amounted to 4 900 kg h−1; this was close to the discrepancy between net production (stems and branches) in the 7th year (2600 kg h−1 per annum) and net production in the 5th and 6th years (about 7000 kg h−1 per annum.) Results suggest that although high rates of net annual production are obtainable in short rotations, the mean annual production is strongly influenced by disease because of insufficient time for enhanced growth of survivors.


1994 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 851 ◽  
Author(s):  
PW Morcombe ◽  
DS Petterson ◽  
HG Masters ◽  
PJ Ross ◽  
JR Edwards

A sample of 4973 kidneys from sheep stratified by age and shire of origin within the Agricultural Region of Western Australia, was analysed for cadmium (Cd) content during the period August 1989 to April 1991. The geometric mean Cd concentration in the kidney of hogget ewes was 0.9 mg/kg, in 4-tooth ewes 1.47 mg/kg and in adult ewes 3.34 mg/kg on a wet weight basis. The mean Cd concentrations of either ewe or hogget flocks from different Divisions of the Agricultural Region did not differ from each other. The annual increase in Cd concentration of kidney from hogget sheep was estimated to be 0-65 mg/kg. The rate of accumulation of Cd in kidney from cattle and sheep grazing the same properties was similar. Kidneys from a sample of 354 adult cattle from the Kimberley Region and 483 aged sheep from the Pastoral Region, both areas of unimproved rangelands, had geometric mean Cd concentrations of 0.15 mg/kg and 0-31 mg/kg respectively. A higher Cd concentration in flocks from the divisions adjacent to the Agricultural Region may have resulted from the establishment of some volunteer species of winter annual pastures in the rangeland.


1982 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. W. Mainwood ◽  
M. Alward ◽  
B. Eiselt

Rats were fed on a diet containing 1% β-guanidinopropionate (Gp) to deplete their muscles of creatine. The apparent energy reserves (creatine phosphate (CrP) + ATP) of rested state diaphragm muscle strips were found to be 79% depleted by this treatment. To determine if the effective energy reserves for contraction were depleted to a similar extent, the response to direct electrical stimulation (0.2-s tetani) was measured in the presence of inhibitors of respiration (NaCN) and glycolysis (iodoacetate). Only 4 ± 1 contractions could be elicited from strips from Gp-fed animals. Normal strips gave 15 ± 2 contractions under the same conditions. For both sets of diaphragms the energetic cost of contraction in terms of ~P was approximately 1 μmol/g wet weight. The mean level of Pi generated following stimulation to exhaustion was 10.1 μmol/g more in normal than in depleted strips. It is concluded that no significant additional energy stores such as phosphorylated Gp are readily available for contraction in muscles depleted of creatine by Gp treatment.


1972 ◽  
Vol 104 (8) ◽  
pp. 1197-1207 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. F. Morris

AbstractThe number of predators inhabiting nests of Hyphantria cunea Drury was recorded annually for 13 years in four areas in New Brunswick and two areas on the coast of Nova Scotia. The most common groups were the pentatomids and spiders, which sometimes reproduced within the nests, but the mean number per nest was low in relation to the number of H. cunea larvae in the colonies. The rate of predation on fifth-instar larvae was low. Small or timid predators appeared to prey largely on moribund larvae or small saprophagans during the principal defoliating instars of H. cunea.No relationship could be detected between the number of larvae reaching the fifth instar and the number of predators in the colony; nor could any functional or numerical response of the predators to either the initial number of larvae per colony or the population density of colonies be found. It is concluded that the influence of the nest-inhabiting predators is small and relatively stable, and may be treated as a constant in the development of models to explain the population dynamics of H. cunea.H. cunea is a pest in parts of Europe and Asia, where it has been accidentally introduced from North America. The introduction to other continents of the North American predator, Podisus maculiventiis (Say), is discussed briefly.


1988 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Robinson ◽  
A. M. Verrinder Gibbins ◽  
M. H. Hardy

Vitamin A levels in tissues of 20 normal adult hamsters on a standard diet were measured colorimetrically. No significant difference between male and female animals was found for any of the tissues sampled. The mean vitamin A value for blood plasma in 20 animals was 53·4 μg/dl. Mean values for liver, kidneys, flank skin and cheek pouch were 813, 1·29, 1·84 and 1·31 mg/g wet weight, respectively. The vitamin assay was less suitable for small organs such as trachea.


1957 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 195-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. A. Vonk ◽  
L. W. McElroy ◽  
R. T. Berg

Four treatments, involving differences in method of feeding and interval between last feed and slaughter, were employed in a study of the effect of dietary chlortetracycline on protease, amylase, and cellulase activity in the intestinal and cecal contents of 16 pairs of weanling pigs. Most consistent results were obtained with six pairs which were limited pair-fed except for the final feeding during which feed was available ad libitum for a 4-hour period ending 18 hours before slaughter. The mean total activities of all three hydrolases in the contents of the small intestines and of the ceca of the antibiotic-fed animals of these six pairs were significantly greater than in those of the control animals. Expressed as activity per gram dry matter of intestinal contents, significantly higher values for protease and amylase, but not for cellulase, were observed in the pigs that had received chlortetracycline. When the combined results obtained from all 16 pairs of the experimental animals were analyzed, the results showed that on a basis of activity per gram dry matter of intestinal contents, ingested chlortetracycline was associated with significant increases in amylase and cellulase but not in protease activity. Protease, amylase, and cellulase activities per gram dry matter of cecal contents were higher for pigs fed the antibiotic than for their controls. The mean wet weight of the empty small intestine and the mean dry weight of the mucosa scraped from the anterior 3-meter section of the small intestine were lower for the chlortetracycline-fed animals, but the differences were not statistically significant.


2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (10) ◽  
pp. 3850-3870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam V. Rydbeck ◽  
Eric D. Maloney

Abstract Processes associated with the local amplification of easterly waves (EWs) in the east Pacific warm pool are explored. Developing EWs favor convection in the southwest and northeast quadrants of the disturbance. In nascent EWs, convection favors the southwest quadrant. As the EW life cycle progresses, convection in the northeast quadrant becomes increasingly prominent and southwest quadrant convection wanes. The EW moisture budget reveals that anomalous meridional winds acting on the mean meridional moisture gradient of the ITCZ produce moisture anomalies supportive of convection in the southwest quadrant early in the EW life cycle. As EWs mature, moisture anomalies on the poleward side of the EW begin to grow and are supported by the advection of anomalous moisture by the mean zonal wind. In the southwest and northeast portions of the wave, where convection anomalies are favored, lower-tropospheric vorticity is generated locally through vertical stretching that supports a horizontal tilt of the wave from the southwest to the northeast. EWs with such tilts are then able to draw energy via barotropic conversion from the background cyclonic zonal wind shear present in the east Pacific. Convection anomalies associated with EWs vary strongly with changes in the background intraseasonal state. EWs during westerly and neutral intraseasonal periods are associated with robust convection anomalies. Easterly intraseasonal periods are, at times, associated with very weak EW convection anomalies because of weaker moisture and diluted CAPE variations.


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